KATHMANDU, July 4: Government offers various kinds of scholarships for students, but in lack of proper information and awareness, students are unable to utilize their right to scholarship.

Earlier, the Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) used to manage scholarships for 11th graders. But after the federal restructuring, the school education system (from nursery to grade 12) is managed by the local level government. This is why, from now onwards, scholarship schemes for student passing the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) will be decided by the local government, says Ghanashyam Aryal, Director of Center for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD).

Schools which are running classes for 11 and 12th grades must provide scholarship to at least 3-10 percent of the total students enrolled.

After their results were published a week ago, students who passed SEE are busy searching for appropriate schools. Director Aryal suggests that the students must be able to make the most out of the scholarship opportunities provided by the government.

"This year the government has allocated Rs. 2.5 billion to provide scholarships for poor and talented students," said Director Aryal, adding, "Many students remain unaware about such provisions. As such, the budget meant for scholarships is not utilized properly." He said that students must develop the habit of keeping searching for scholarship opportunities before getting enrolled in colleges.

To provide free education to needy students, the Ministry of Education and Employment offers scholarships to 1,500 students from 25 districts. Students who pass SEE from government schools can be hugely benefited from such scholarships.

To get the scholarships meant for underprivileged families, students must fill up the online form of National Examination Board (NEB), Tinkune. Herambaraj Kandel, principal of Viswa Niketan Secondary school, Kathmandu says many students are deprived of scholarships due to ignorance even though they are eligible.

He informed that all schools which are running classes for 11 and 12th grade must provide scholarship to at least 3-10 percent of the total students. "For this, students must bring a recommendation from their respective local unit and submit to the school they want to study at," said Kandel, adding, "The schools will evaluate all the applications and chose students eligible for the scholarship."

According to Yogendra Baral, chief of the Education Development and Coordination Unit, Lalitpur, wards of conflict victims are also entitled to sholarships. He further added that the children of those who lost their lives during foreign employment can also claim scholarship. "Children of such parents must contact the unit along with the recommendation of the local units," said Baral.

Similarly, the government also provides scholarships to students with various kinds of disabilities. Not just that, the students in Tarai can also take advantage of the Ram Narayan Mishra scholarship, says Director Aryal. The department has allocated a budget of Rs 68 million under this scheme. This scholarship will be provided to 15,002 students who will be enrolled in grade 11.

Along with that are many other types of scholarships offered by the Scholarship Management Department and the Higher Institutions and Secondary School's Association Nepal (HISSAN).

As per the details provided by NEB, currently, there are 3,765 secondary schools in the country which run classes for 11th and 12th grade. Every year, more than 400,000 students are enrolled in 11th grade.

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